By Ben Efe
National boxing coach, Tony Konyegwachie, has attributed the early exit of five Nigerian boxers at the ongoing 11th Africa Games in Congo to the newly introduced rules into the sport.

Five of the 10 boxers fielded by Team Nigeria have since crashed out the Games, because of the application of new rules.

Rashidi Fatai of Ogun State (red) and Chinedu Ani of Imo State fight in the boxing 81kg men semi finals bout.  Photo: Henry Unini

According the new rules, any cuts sustained on the face, results in automatic stoppage of a bout and the fight awarded to the opponent.

Coach Konyegwachie, who expressed disappointment at the early exit of the five because of injuries, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that it was sad that his boxers lost merely on technical grounds.

The coach said he was, however, optimistic that the remaining boxers would be up to it.

Konyegwachie also said the absence of Nigerian technical officials at the Games was also to blame for the country’s troubles at the boxing event.

According to Konyegwachie the absence of our own Nigerian’s officials in the boxing event means that no Nigerian is involved in the politics of the game.

“This boils down to the fact that we have no top referee or officials in the continental body,” Konyegwachie said.

The coach said so far, the five boxers lost their bouts at the preliminary stages — some of them lost in the first round of their events because of the application of the new rules.

Konyegwachie said that some of the boxers sustained cuts on their faces, resulting in outright loss to their opponents. “I am not too happy that my boxers failed to progress in their fights because three of them, who were leading during their bouts sustained injuries.

“And the new rules specifies that any boxer that has cut or sustained injury during a bout will be disqualified from continuing with the fight. This is painful, but that is just the new rule.

“I am still optimistic that the remaining boxers will win three or four gold medals for the country at the Games,” the coach said.